Halloween Ends Review: Embracing An Easter Egg Filled "What If?" Continuity

Of all the movie franchises that I've seen from sequels, to prequels, to reboots, and everything else in between, Halloween Ends will forever be remembered as one that legitimately baffled me by how much I didn't hate it. How can a movie spiral off into so many unexpected directions trailing off the beaten path of guaranteed satisfaction to tell its crazy ambitious story and not be met with immediate disappointment? Well guys, let's take a trip together down said path as we discover how such an unexpectedly different movie can still work at the end of the day given the right mindset. Here's my review for the conclusion of David Gordon Green's reboot sequel trilogy, Halloween Ends.

The Opening

Jumping right into the opening segment where we follow a babysitter struggling with a stress inducing situation, I felt this entire scene was well shot and directed with a nice attention to solid lighting and atmospheric soundscaping. And although I think it’s admirable to have a Halloween movie open up with a death that isn’t Michael related, I will say that I wasn’t a fan of the overly dramatic zoom-ins of the characters reacting before the title screen. It took what was a suspenseful enough and tonally promising sequence and briefly shifted it into something that felt a bit goofy. Thankfully, this sensibility isn't something that frequently carries on throughout the film. Speaking of the title screen, we have to talk about the new opening pumpkin credits sequence.

This is of course a tradition that started in the original movie but has ironically only been followed up a mere few times. The main theme used here is was pretty decent overall really invoking the feel of the original while still  keeping with the previous titles in this trilogy and adding new elements. On the other side of the compliment spectrum, I’m just simply not a big fan of the Jack-o'-lantern title imagery used in this new trilogy. The resurrecting Jack-o'-lantern in the 2018 movie credits looked weird to me, the multiple Jack-o'-lanterns flying at the screen in Kills felt like a bit much (though the flaming bleeding pumpkin in the end was kinda awesome), and the Jack-o'-lantern faces pushing through each other in Ends just looked strange and artificial to me. I can acknowledge how nit picky this is, but being the massive fan of the original 2 that I am, certain aesthetic choices will stick out to me.

That being said, there are a couple of cool Easter eggs that I appreciated in this opening scene such as John Carpenter’s The Thing playing on the TV which is an homage to the original Halloween where the original Thing From Another World played. There’s also an homage to the original Halloween II (still my favorite follow up entry to the original) with the babysitter using a knife to cut a piece of bread on the kitchen table only to see the same knife disappear later on. In the original sequel, there’s a scene earlier in the beginning where one of the elderly neighborhood residents is shown having a similar situation (only she was making a sandwich and spreading Mayo with a knife). And as for any Easter eggs that I didn't catch myself, as fans have pointed out, the title text font of this movie pays homage to Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

Haddonfield’s Infection

After the opening title credits, we get this montage of Michael’s reign on Haddonfield narrated by Laurie Strode chronicling the events of this continuity. I thought it was a great way to hone in on the terror and impact element that Michael Myers brought to this once peaceful little town while also building up the significance of Laurie being the primary survivor. One of my favorite details about this montage is the concept of myth and reality surrounding the panic of a killer still being on the loose. The idea that every death in this town becomes a huge questionable and controversial investigation because of Michael never being caught is a fascinating concept. Unlike the forceful execution of the mob mentality component to Halloween Kills, this conspiracy angle introduced here is actually well thought out and comes off feeling much more natural.

Laurie’s Endearing Journey To Heal

Another thing that I really dug about this particular scene is Laurie showing to have made a strong effort to try to move on and actually live a normal happy life with her remaining family. We’ve already dealt with the trauma character element before, so it’s refreshing to see a more happier and peace seeking side to our leading protagonist. This is where, for the first time in this new continuity, I actually felt a sense of connection to Laurie’s family. So, if there’s anything that I can praise this movie for already from the beginning, is that it took the character of Laurie and successfully gave her something deeply endearing to work with. All of this narration being revealed to actually be a memoir written by her gives the character a sense of history that I feel successfully captures the legacy of who she is in the grander scope of Horror cinema. Just as Michael Myers is considered an icon of slasher cinema, Laurie is considered to be a legend amongst the “final girl” trope.

Adding onto the positives here surrounding Laurie’s new chapter, there was just something nice about seeing her actually be a happy and normal parental figure with Allyson (with a guest return by Lindsey in the family circle). There’s even an adorable moment where she runs into Hawkins at the grocery store and the two interact like seniors remembering their romanticized youthful years potentially rekindling a long lost opportunity for a relationship. Just taking away the horror element for a moment, for the first time ever in the franchise, I’m being reminded of the earlier scenes from the original 1978 film where we get to see Laurie as a sincere, wholehearted, and socially adjusting person and not just a screaming victim and survivor. It’s a delightful surprise and something that I will forever give this film credit for making a successful effort in portraying. On a side note, potentially another Easter egg, the house that she buys to start off her new life kinda reminded me of the drastically redesigned Myers house from Halloween 5.

Laurie’s Happiness Is Challenged

Traveling down the more expectedly dark and bleak road comes a scene immediately following her encounter with Hawkins where a woman essentially lashes out at Laurie’s happy expression pointing out her connection with Myers. This woman being a family member of the elderly woman who Michael stabbed with a light fixture from Halloween Kills. And despite my distaste for that film, I do have to admit that the way Halloween Ends is bringing back elements introduced in Kills to enrich its narrative really worked for me for the most part. The surviving victim being used as a visual reminder to counteract Laurie’s attempt at happiness as well as Hawkins' crush on Laurie really adds value to at least some of the things that were done in Halloween Kills.

Alright...Lets Talk About Corey

The beginning of the movie introduced to us a young guy named Corey who unfortunately undergoes a tragedy during a babysitting gig where the kid accidentally dies. Throughout the movie, Corey is being harassed and essentially socially branded by the community due to being connected to a child’s controversial death. Because of this, what may seem like a random new character story being thrown into the series actually parallels the trauma survivor characterization of Laurie’s circle. Allyson tries to connect with Corey which starts off somewhat promising but early on ends in him rejecting her after being distracted and confronted at a party by the parent of the child he babysat. We’re about a half and hour into the movie and Michael hasn’t shown up yet which, surprising to me, actually didn’t bother me whatsoever. Where things begin to get a bit shaky however is later on when Corey gets harassed yet again by the same bullies who ambushed him earlier now throwing him off of a bridge.

Michael Myer’s Unexpected Entrance

Here enters our debut of Michael who shows up and drags Corey into the sewers after his near death encounter by the town bullies. Actually, wait a minute. Troubled kid gets nearly killed by bullies and is then dragged into the sewers by the film’s sinister villain? Is Pennywise using the other sewer pipes next to Michael's? Okay, wrong franchise I know. It’s just really hard not to make that immediate connection. We’ve never really seen Michael drag a victim’s body after they almost seemingly died from an unrelated incident. This is new territory as not only does Michael drag Corey’s body into the sewer, he attacks him after he wakes up only to let him go after some bizarre montage of Corey’s babysitting tragedy intercut with jarringly edited shots of Michael’s mask. I…I had no idea how to feel about this scene. I wasn’t upset nor was I excited. I was more baffled than anything and curious to see where things would go.

Then, for what felt like no reason, some random homeless guy who apparently lived by the sewers knowing about Michael’s doings, attacks Corey. He claims to be Michael and demands that Corey answers why he was let free when everyone else wasn’t. Corey then stabs the homeless guy in defense and then runs off home. At this point, my mind is wide open for whatever’s coming my way while at the same time, speculations are beginning to flood in. My first thought was that Michael is somehow acting as a supernatural parasite feeding on the town and creating death around him without having to physically enact the kills himself. Perhaps, in this trilogy, the idea is that this isn't just some psychotic killer on the loose with an absurdly strong pain resistance, but a literal representation of evil and death plaguing an entire small corner of the world.

Corey’s Infection | The Curse of Michael Myers

The idea of Michael Myers supernaturally infecting a town was just a crazy thought that came to mind considering that I’ve had a history of writing my own ambitious Halloween films in the past that were pretty “out there”. But perhaps my thought isn’t too crazy because the next scene literally gives Corey a moment that mirrors Michael from the original movie. Laurie looks out of her window and sees Corey standing by a hedge staring up at her. This is yet another thing that I felt this movie did better than the previous David Gordon Green movies. The shot composition, the music, everything about this scene almost perfectly invoked Laurie’s eerie moment from the first film. But this didn’t feel like some cringe inducing, forced in visual Easter egg like the 2018 scenes with Laurie pulling Michael’s own antics on him. Instead, it felt like a cinematically eerie moment with legitimate purpose planting the seed of an idea in the audience’s mind.

The idea being of Corey somehow becoming infected by Michael in order to act as a puppet or harbinger of Michael’s parasitic fear mongering presence on the town. Honestly, where many fans might jump on this immediately and call it stupid, dishonoring of the original, or completely out of left field, I actually kinda liked this moment. Those aforementioned negative reactions was how I felt about the Dr. Sartain twist reveal in the 2018 movie or the mob attack scenes in Kills. Here, I find myself to be more genuinely curious and open minded than immediately put off. The infection idea is even highlighted later on when his hand wound becomes physically infected over the course of the film as pointed out by Allyson really given this a fresh direction never [fully] attempted before in the franchise.

Allyson & Corey’s Questionable Relationship

Where things take a stranger turn really comes with the overall Allyson-Corey relationship. Again, this is new territory for the franchise. Our surviving victim who we’re supposed to be rooting for is now getting in close with someone who has a very questionable connection to Michael Myers and is clearly mentally unstable. What on Earth are we building up to here? The answer? Something absolutely insane and just another example of this movie trying something fresh and interesting. Also, on an interesting side note, remember when I said that I’d written my own ambitious Halloween titles in the past? Well, this idea of our hero protagonist being romantically involved with someone connected to Michael actually parallels one of my released stories revolving around Halloween 4. The concept that I have was for the Brady character to be revealed as a member of a sinister cult. Alright, that’s the last plug to my Halloween ideas that I’m inserting into this review.

Great Visual Direction

Corey lures a harassing ex-boyfriend (what is it with this town and harassing jerks?) into the sewer where Michael resides. Now, before I get to what transpires, I do want to point out that I did like the imagery of Michael eerily lurking in the background of certain shots. I nitpicked quite a bit about the way the 2018 movie and Kills cinematically presented Michael during several scenes. With Halloween Ends, I do have to give credit where credit is due and say that I really liked the first shot of Michael walking into frame when he showed up to drag Corey’s body away. There's a great sense of atmosphere embedded with the homeless man singing off in the background as well as the shot of him hiding right off to the side of Officer Mulaney’s flashlight. These particular moments, and a few others , do paint Michael in an eerie fashion that honors the cinematography sensibilities of the original franchise more than the previous two did overall.

Facing A Challenging New Direction

Now, as for what they do with Michael in this scene, this is where my open mindedness gets immediately challenged. Michael attacks the officer but gets kicked back to the floor like a weak old man resulting in Corey knocking down Mulaney. Corey then yells at Michael to stand up almost like a coach yelling at his boxer to rise up in the ring and Michael eventually stumbles over to kill the officer. Just this segment alone had me spiraling in a sea of speculation and mixed feelings. But, much like everything else that happened prior, shockingly, I wasn’t immediately upset and was instead more curious. Michael then trembles after slicing the officer’s throat almost as if gaining back his power and the scene just abruptly ends. 

So maybe my idea of Michael creating puppets or harbingers of death for himself isn’t too crazy after all. I mean, even Lindsey early on in the film was talking about the "Death" taro card with Allyson explaining it as a point of transition. And this being a new continuity that doesn’t mess up the original, I’m completely fine with this. Like Halloween 6’s Thorn cult story, this is essentially a “What If?” alternate timeline narrative. And so far in the movie, due to there being actual effort put into making things naturally flow enough (emphasis on “enough”) with its ideas, it’s kinda working for me.

 

A Toxic Relationship Brews

Corey then rushes back to Allyson emotionally spiraling out of control asking her if Michael let her live or did she escaped. Now it feels like the film is becoming something of a supernatural horror possession story where one of our protagonists is struggling to keep it together as the other struggles to understand and help them. At this point, I can see shades of The Shining and even The Amityville Horror reflected through the story of Corey and Allyson (with a dash of Harleen Quinzel’s dangerous attraction to the Joker in Batman mythology). The two proceed to have sex right as Laurie is showing up seeing them walk upstairs. This calls back to the first movie’s opening scene where Michael sees Judith and her boyfriend from outside of the window. The twist here being that Michael is strangely enough watching Laurie as she watches them. The fact that he leaves her instead of attacking her was peculiar to me, but I suppose the explanation there is that he wasn’t “strong enough” yet (?).

Corey The Corkscrew New Killer

The real eye opener however comes when Corey sees his mask from the Halloween party resting on the table and eventually puts it on to attack and murder Allyson’s co-worker, Deb, and boss from her hospital job. At first, when Deb walks outside looking for Dr. Mathis at his place, and you see him being assumingely killed by Michael in the background, I thought it looked kinda off visually speaking. And as it would appear, I was right to think so with Corey being revealed as the actual killer (it’s actually kinda cool to see a new masked killer in the franchise) eventually struggling to catch Deb. Here enters Michael now fully operational(?) killing her in the iconic "pinned to the wall" style that he did in both the original movie and Halloween 6. Only here, he has an apprentice of sorts taking notes outside in the form of Corey…the corkscrew killer. Pretty sure that’s what he used to kill the doctor. 

Wait a minute. Did Corey attack Deb and Dr. Mathis specifically because of Allyson's negative relationship with them? Is there a spread of evil taking root through even Allyson's personal life issues being carried out via Corey? Also, Corey takes off his hand wound bandages during Michael’s killing of the nurse. Was this him feeding off of the kill to heal himself just as Michael grows more powerful whenever he takes a life? That’s the idea that I had in mind anyway.

I’ll give the film this. It’s certainly ambitious, and as much as I can only imagine telling my past self this story and witnessing his immediate outrage, I’m kinda digging the boldly different direction here. Like I said before, this is a whole other alternate timeline “choose your own adventure” story, so none of this hurts what was successfully established in the other franchise titles. But most importantly, these crazy new ideas are actually handled fairly well. Laurie’s apprehension to Corey reminding her of Michael as well as the father of the child that he babysat seeing something different in his eyes is pretty intriguing character building. Where the 2018 movie failed to make something new, fresh, and game changing out of the Dr. Sartain character psychotically following Michael’s killings, Halloween Ends mostly succeeds in creating a new form of evil in Corey.

The Scene That Pissed Off An Entire Fanbase

The way in which they manage to insert a toxic love story in the mix really shouldn’t work as romantic drama rarely do in slasher horror. Yet somehow, I find myself just as intrigued with where this couple’s venture is heading just as I am with whatever Michael is up to. Even Corey’s unsettling life at home offers up the franchise’s most engaging family drama angle ever. However, as much praise as I’ve surprisingly given this movie, now comes the first ambitious scene that felt almost too weird even for me. Corey storms into the sewer and straight up attacks Michael in this extended fight scene just to steal his mask and leave. It’s such a jarring scene visually speaking conveying Michael as this mindless semi-vulnerable push over that can get beaten up. But alas, even this moment didn’t necessarily upset me. 

I don’t know what it is about this film doing just about everything that it possibly can to piss me off as a longtime Halloween fan and yet miraculously getting a different reaction out of me. Maybe it is the fact that I, early on, embraced it as a harmless "Choose your own adventure" continuity route. I was surprised more than I was necessarily angry seeing Michael get wrestled to the ground by some kid who would’ve easily and quickly died in any previous title. Even the slightly cringey bit of him sitting back up mask-less made me wonder more so what the heck the filmmakers were building up to as opposed to just complaining. Strange? Yes. Franchise ruining? No.

Corey Becomes A New Version of Michael Myers

Corey then goes after the bullies by luring them out while Laurie fails to warn Allyson to stay with her and keep away from him. Corey, donning the full Myers attire brutally kills the bullies, then his mother, and finally the radio DJ (basically everyone that acted like a jerk to him). I gotta admit…the kill scenes are pretty solid here especially with the body horror imagery surrounding the DJ and the lead bully's face getting torched off. I think it's cool that they utilized Corey's mechanic backdrop to connect to his killer sensibilities (and I suppose donning a mechanic's suit parallels Michael's attire of choice). Where things get really interesting is the moment Laurie, while home alone, walks up stairs and we get a full scene of her appearing to be committing suicide due to the emotional pressure of losing Allyson in her life. However, this is just one big red herring as she was essentially baiting Corey who was lurking in the house to get to her. 

Unless of course I understood that scene incorrectly and she really was ready to kill herself? The reason I say this is because she successfully tricks him and shoots him over the stairs confronting him as the villain he truly is. However, she then willfully opens herself up for him to strike her down? I got a little confused here. What did I miss? Why did she empty out her gun and allow him to slowly reach for his knife as opposed to just shooting him dead? Corey then hears Allyson pull up outside to which he smiles and repeats to Laurie what he said earlier in the film, “If I can’t have Allyson, nobody can”. He stabs himself just in time for Allyson to walk in and see Laurie as the killer. Now I’m not gonna lie. These types of scenes involving villains making the heroes look bad always stresses me out no matter what the context is. Thankfully, this conflict between Laurie and Allyson isn't stretched out too long and gets resolved rather quickly once she notices the radio station on fire connecting the dots.

The Moment We've Been Waiting For

Here’s where the movie finally decides to be a Michael Vs. Laurie movie as the Shape himself walks in, takes his mask back, kills Corey, and we get our big confrontation. And was it worth all the build up, head scratching speculation, and plot twists? Well, it’s certainly the most brutal confrontation between these two that we’ve ever had. Michael attacks an emotionally vulnerable but still strategically ready Laurie who manages to barely survive and get the upper hand. Lots of stabbing and face bashing to go around really living up to what the marketing for the film heavily leaned on; a battle to the death. The score during this scene (entitled "The Fight"), like the rest of the film, is pretty solid in elevating the tension which was something that I felt mixed about with the previous two titles.

The camera work follows the action without the use of over excessive shaky cam (thank you!!) and the atmospheric mood and lighting secures the moment from turning into a straight up action scene keeping the tone intact. This was another thing done better here than in Halloween Kills in my opinion. There's also a few nods to Halloween 1’s sewing needle scene and H20’s garbage disposal scare which I appreciated. Although, speaking of H20, I will say that nothing beats the iconic bit where Michael just appears being Laurie hanging down from the ceiling. I know it's probably a bit silly logically (as if that matters in a semi-supernatural slasher film), but the imagery has always been one of the coolest ever executed in terms of Laurie vs. Michael encounters. 

Eventually, Laurie stabs Michael’s hands down on the table and drops a fridge on his knee to pin him down. Another shot that I liked here comes where Laurie pulls out a knife and shows Michael's reflection in the blade before stabbing him. This is where things get especially bloody as she slits his throat after removing his mask only for him to begin choking her. On a side note, as much as I complained about the mask less Michael scenes in the previous movies, due to him being severely burnt and not fully in light, I didn't mind it too much here. It’s during Michael's surprise attack on Laurie where she starts flashing back to previous movies yelling for him to just kill her already (so I guess she is suicidal?) until Allyson rushes into save her. One nitpick here, I’m not a big fan of the fast paced editing being done with these mental flashback scenes. Feels like the film trying to force in a chaotic energy that really isn't warranted and only comes across as jarring.

The Death of Michael Myers Brings New Life To Haddonfield 

Laurie slits Michael’s wrists and the police comes in just in time to help finish the job. How do they accomplish this? The town rallies around as Laurie and the authorities literally join up to throw Michael into a junkyard grinding machine until he’s nothing but a bloody gory mess. Yeah…that actually happens. Honestly, I didn’t know how to feel about this scene. It was a combination of me thinking “Wow, Michael is officially dead and that’s the end of that. I never thought I’d reach this point in the franchise” while also thinking “A junkyard grinder? Really? I guess that makes sense to get the job done, but couldn’t you have thought of something more cinematically interesting?”. 

How about the town burns him on a stake like a witch trial bit to thematically connect to the Halloween season as well as the "evil" mythos and town conspiracy/paranoia angle? Imagine the final shot of Michael in this continuity being a zoomed in shot of his one eye staring into Laurie's with flames engulfing him while his skin slowly scorches without a single flinch. Talk about an iconic shot even for those who may not have liked the film overall. Anything would've better than just "guy gets tossed down a giant meat grinder...the end".

Call it an off-putting bittersweet feeling considering we technically had an entire Halloween movie where Michael bizarrely had a minor supporting feeling role. The sweet part however comes afterwards in the fact where Laurie Strode gets to officially move on and live that nice, happy life that she previously attempted. She hooks up with Officer Hawkins, Allyson moves out of Haddonfield, and for some strange reason, Michael’s mask is left lying in the house instead of being tossed into the same grinder. We get establishing shots of different parts of the house with what I thought I heard as a very subtle and faint breathing offscreen much like the original's ending. And with Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper” playing us off as our final homage, the franchise manages to bring things full circle from the original in its own roundabout way. 

We get the title screen emphasizing the “Ends” in Halloween Ends. And just like that…it’s over. Our characters get a happy ending and the iconic undying Boogeyman of this long running franchise is finally dead. But is there room for another boogeyman to show up? Hmmm as Lindsey pointed out earlier in the film, death signifies that a major phase is ending and another is about to begin. This can be represented as Michael's death finally opening up the door for Laurie's family and Haddonfield to fully move forward with their lives. Still, I do think the final shot of the film can be interpreted in a couple ways which I kind of admired. There's a sense of finality to everything, but there's also an understandable place for speculation and theories to be had.

You’d think that such an insanely off the beaten path sequel would be hard to process and throw me in a sea of ranting, but honestly, I’m just baffled by how much I actually enjoyed it. For a film that does just about everything possible to potentially alienate and upset longtime fans with its risky ambitions, I find myself to be utterly shocked by how easy it was to embrace it as an enjoyable “What If?” story. This for me will be the legacy of Halloween Ends. The movie that should’ve angered my franchise fanboy heart, but instead left me in a state of admiration. Good on ya....I guess. Now, if it's not too much to ask, can we finally get a proper follow up to the original (aside from 1981's Halloween II which I know I'm in the minority that likes it) or should this property just cease any future productions altogether? 

Rating: 8/10